


Rekindled

by misura



Category: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Genre: Background Het, Character Death Fix, Future Fic, Gen, Jossed, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-09-05 04:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16803424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Manizheh brings Dara back. Nahri is less happy about that than she expected to be.





	Rekindled

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shoemaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoemaster/gifts).



> this is 100% a soon-to-be-jossed what-happens-next fic, with rather more Manizheh and less Dara than I'd hoped for. oops?
> 
> that said: happy Yuletide, shoemaster, and I hope you'll enjoy this bit of speculation and Nahid family feelings.

It was a very unfair thing, Nahri thought, to be given the thing you'd secretly been wanting all your life and to discover you didn't like it even a little bit.

Of course, she'd never expected the world to be _fair_. Nahri wasn't that naive. So really, the fact that her mother had turned out to be a liar and a thief (inasfar as stealing an actual person made someone a thief) shouldn't be making her feel disappointed.

If anything, Nahri supposed, it should make her feel better about the fact that she, too, had spent most of her life being a liar and a thief. Not that Nahri felt ashamed of that - she'd needed to eat, hadn't she? And people were so _gullible_. If they hadn't been tricked out of their money by Nahri, it would have been someone else.

No, if she felt bad, it probably didn't have anything to do with Manizheh. Who always smiled at Nahri and told her to call her 'Mother'. Who was never too busy to talk to her.

Who was very, very good at lying. Nahri knew that much, at least. Nahri had once thought of herself as a con artist, but having met Manizheh, she now knew the term had been a gross exaggeration. At best, Nahri had only ever been an amateur. A beginner.

And then she'd met Dara, and he'd taken her to Daevabad, and Nahri had dared to let herself believe that she could be something else, someone else. _That_ had been naive.

The problem was, she'd liked it. Nahri'd enjoyed herself - not all the time, sure, but still. She'd let herself forget the golden rule, the one lesson every person who'd ever been conned learned the hard way.

If something looks, sounds and feels too good to be true, it probably isn't.

Like Dara.

Nahri remembered how she'd felt when Manizheh had offered to bring Dara back. How her heart had started beating faster, until she'd been sure it beat loud enough for Manizheh to hear.

In that one moment, she'd have happily believed anything Manizheh wanted her to believe.

She hadn't thought to ask how Manizheh would be able to bring Dara back without his relic, or the emerald ring that had been his vessel. She hadn't asked a single question, other than _'when?'_.

 _'As soon as we've reached a place where we can rest safely for a few hours,'_ Manizheh had said.

Nahri hadn't asked who or what Manizheh was afraid of, with several ifrit to guard her. She'd been too bowled over by the idea of seeing Dara again.

Manizheh hadn't permitted Nahri to actually witness the procedure. She'd claimed that it was too advanced, that she didn't want Nahri to try to imitate it on her own.

_'It's too dangerous. You're not ready yet, my little one. Another time.'_

Nahri hadn't asked who else Manizheh intended to bring back. She had a suspicion that it wasn't going to be any of the people whose relics she'd seen in the Grand Temple in Daevabad.

Then again, a person who called the ifrit her 'allies' probably had access to a number of relics.

Nahri had declared herself content to wait. She'd have declared herself content to walk barefoot over a bed of hot coals, if it meant seeing Dara again.

After all, Dara would have done the same for her. Dara loved her. Nahri wasn't sure how he'd feel about Manizheh and the ifrit, but she knew that with Dara by her side again, she'd be much happier.

Dara knew things about this world. True, he wasn't always willing to share them, but Nahri had assured herself that she'd worm them out of him, so that she'd be able to actually understand what was happening, what Manizheh was doing, and what she planned to do next.

Nahri's head had been full of foolish fantasies about what would happen once Dara returned to her.

It hadn't for a moment occurred to her that he might simply have forgotten who she was.

Of course, there was nothing particularly simple about any of it.

Nahri was still putting the pieces together, but without anyone around whom she trusted, it was hard. Before, whenever Manizheh had done or said something Nahri hadn't understood, she'd told herself, _'if Dara had been here, he would have been able to explain'_.

Now, Dara _was_ here. He never talked to her though, let alone explained things. Most of the time, he didn't even seem to know that she was there. He never looked at her directly.

 _Manizheh_ was the one Dara called his Nahid. _Manizheh_ was the one Dara always looked at. And sure, Manizheh had been the one to bring him back, and she claimed to be Nahri's mother, so Nahri supposed that she wouldn't have wanted Dara to dislike Manizheh, but this was too much.

 _'Don't you know who I am?'_ Nahri had asked him once, when she hadn't been able to take it anymore.

Dara had looked at some point over her shoulder. His expression had been completely blank. He hadn't said anything at all.

Nahri hadn't known what to do. She'd wanted to cry, or maybe scream at him, to keep from crying.

Manizheh faked sympathy very well. Nahri imagined after you'd faked your own death (but not, she had begun to suspect, anyone else's, which meant Manizheh hadn't felt the least compunction about having her own brother killed), everything else was easy.

"Memory loss can happen in this type of case," Manizheh said. "Give it time."

Nahri had no way to check if that was true. It didn't _sound_ true - or did she just not want it to be true? "How much time?"

Manizheh laughed. She had a lovely laugh. Dara certainly seemed to think so, at any rate. Nahri noticed the way he turned his head to look at Manizheh. He even smiled a little.

"You sound like a human." From Manizheh's tone, Nahri couldn't tell whether that counted as an insult.

"Is it going to take weeks?" Nahri pressed. "Months? Years?"

Manizheh shook her head. "I cannot say. I'm sorry. Too much depends on the individual, the extent to which they _want_ to remember."

Nahri couldn't imagine Dara not wanting to remember _her_. On the other hand, he had known her for months. Before that - well. Nahri could imagine all too easily that Dara wouldn't be in any hurry to remember being enslaved, or slaughtering entire cities of innocent people.

"Try not to worry about it too much," Manizheh advised. "Instead, why not focus on your studies? Then, before you know it, the happy day may have arrived."

Nahri sighed. "I suppose you're right. Thank you, Amma." She summoned a smile. "You are always so kind and patient."

Manizheh laughed again. Nahri hoped that meant her attempt at flattery hadn't been seen through, but it might just as well mean that Manizheh knew very well how people remembered her. Based on the stories Nahri had heard in Daevabad, Manizheh had neither been kind nor especially patient.

With Nahri though, she put on a very good show.

 _She wants me to like her,_ Nahri thought. What she couldn't figure out was why.

That night, Nahri lay awake a long time, trying to make sense of it all. She felt she should be able to, even without Dara's help. Manizheh was running a con, after all, and any con had a goal, an end game.

You wanted to come out ahead. You wanted to leave people poorer, but by preference not in any position to take revenge. Ideally, they wouldn't even suspect you of having done anything.

Everyone thinking Manizheh had died would probably help with that last one. Still, if Manizheh wanted people to continue thinking that, how would she be able to turn a profit? Were the ifrit truly her allies, or were they being conned, too? Were the ifrit, perhaps, the only ones being conned?

Did Manizheh, in fact, care about her? Was she telling the truth, when she assured Nahri that getting her back had always been part of the plan?

"Nahri," someone said from outside her tent.

 _Dara. He remembers me! His memories have come back!_ Nahri felt immensely relieved.

"I cannot - I know that I am talking to an empty tent," Dara said. "Or, if it is not, whomever is inside is surely asleep and unable to hear me."

"I'm not asleep," Nahri said, a bit confused. "I can hear you. You should come inside."

"Tent, though you can neither hear nor understand me, I tell you that I believe myself to be under a curse. I know not who cursed me, only that the effect of the curse seems to be that I am unable to see or hear a person who is very dear to me. I have tried to talk to other people about this curse, but whenever I do, my throat swells up and I end up choking."

Nahri blinked. _A curse?_

"Tent, if only you were able to, I would ask you to speak in my stead. Surely, my curse could be lifted by any Nahid. Alas, that you lack a mouth as well as ears."

Nahri's mind was a whirl. All the relief she had earlier felt had gone. If Dara was under a curse, which sounded likely enough, that meant Nahri couldn't simply wait around for it to wear off. She had to do something. Dara needed help, the sooner the better.

 _He remembers me just fine._ Which meant Manizheh had either lied to her when she'd ascribed Dara's attitude to memory loss, or she'd failed to spot a curse that should surely have been obvious to an accomplished healer.

Dara sighed. "I must go now, tent. Were you capable of movement, I would caution you against any rash action. It was good to be able to speak of what troubles me. Thank you."

_'Surely, my curse could be lifted by any Nahid',_ Dara had said, but unfortunately, as far as Nahri knew, only two Nahids remained in the world - and the more Nahri thought about it, the likelier it seemed that Manizheh had been the one to curse Dara, probably the moment she'd brought him back.

Nahri didn't think that it would be a good idea to test her theory by asking Manizheh about a cure.

Working the problem into a conversation might work, but how would she know if Manizheh told her the truth? What if Manizheh decided that she'd rather see Dara dead than freed from her curse? The risk was simply too great.

Then again, if Dara had already tried to talk to her about the curse, Manizheh might be making new plans anyway. Whenever Nahri asked about where they were going, Manizheh mentioned the names of the next two, three villages or oases they would reach, before changing the subject.

On the plus side, one of Manizheh's favorite subject to talk about happened to be Nahri's, too.

If she ever returned to Daevabad, Nisreen might be pleasantly surprised at Nahri's progress.

Assuming Nisreen still lived, and Nahri would even be permitted inside the city. Given the circumstances of her departure, Nahri was less than certain about either of those things.

"May I be honest with you for a moment, dear?" Manizheh said.

 _Oh, so long as it's only for a moment, sure._ Nahri nodded, looking attentive and a little nervous.

"Dara's memory loss is not an effect of his return. It's the effect of a curse I placed on him."

Nahri changed her expression to one of shock. It helped that she _was_ shocked, as well as deeply suspicious. Revealing to a mark that you were conning them was rarely a good idea. You only did it when you already had a plan in place to con them again.

 _What if she curses_ me _, too?_ Dara had at least been able to tell that he'd been cursed. Would she be able to do the same?

"Many of his memories are traumatic. I'm sure you know about some of the things he was made to do as a slave. I didn't want him to have to deal with those memories right away."

Nahri had to admit that it was a marvellous performance. If she hadn't known Dara _hadn't_ lost his memory, she might almost have bought it.

"Oh," she said.

Manizheh seemed to think this response perfectly adequate. "I apologize for not telling you right away. I know this has been worrying you."

"So you can restore his memory at any time?" Nahri made sure to sound relieved, but not too relieved.

"It's not quite that easy," Manizheh said.

_Of course it isn't._

"Something - well, it's complicated. Simply put, my curse didn't work the way it should."

"I don't understand," Nahri said. She recognized the sales pitch, though. She'd used it herself often enough - too often, she told herself, to fall for it.

Any moment now, Manizheh would hesitantly mention some sort of cure. It would be dangerous, and it might not work, and she'd be sure Nahri wouldn't want to use it.

Nahri would protest that of course, she did want to use it. She was desperate to see Dara truly restored, after all. Manizheh would draw it out for a bit, all the while making a show of her reluctance, before finally telling Nahri what she wanted Nahri to do.

Nahri had no doubt that it _would_ be dangerous. She was also almost convinced that it wouldn't work. _But it might,_ she told herself, even though she should know better. _If this isn't the end game, if she's playing a long con, letting you remove Dara's curse might be part of it. You can always walk away later._

One thing was for sure: Nahri had no intention of walking away without Dara.

"There might be a way to - " Manizheh bit her lip. "No. It's too dangerous. It might not even work."

Nahri almost laughed out loud. Reminding herself that Dara depended on her helped. "Tell me."

For one moment, Nahri thought that she had died. Then she saw Nisreen, who was not supposed to be here and who was also not the person Nahri most wanted to see right now.

"Did I not keep telling you that intention was of the utmost importance?"

 _If this is Heaven, I am undeserving. If this is Hell, I am_ also _undeserving. Sure, I lied and I stole, but God is supposed to be merciful, isn't He?_

"Oh, bah!" Manizheh's voice drifted in from outside the tent, a moment before Manizheh herself. "Any daughter of mine who has just broken a double curse has done better than to deserve a lecture."

Nisreen scowled but said nothing. She looked older than when Nahri had last seen her.

"Where's Dara? Is he all right?"

Manizheh's expression shifted to another emotion for a moment. Nahri thought it might have been sadness. _But she said I broke the curse!_ Was this going to be the blow-off, where Manizheh would tell her that alas, Dara was dead and so their paths must part now - for Nahri's own good, naturally? _She's a liar. You know better than to believe anything she tells you. Dara's fine! He has to be! I'd only just gotten him back, and that wasn't even really him!_

"Dara's fine, Nahnu." Manizheh smiled.

Nahri didn't trust her for a moment. "What's Nisreen doing here?"

"She's my servant, is she not?" Manizheh said. "I will have need of her, now that I have released my Afshin into your service."

If Nisreen had any opinion on being considered a second-best replacement for Dara, she didn't let it show.

"I suppose it is as well. His experience should nicely balance out your youth," Manizheh went on. "True, I had hoped to keep him to myself a little longer - he _is_ very handsome, you know, but he seems very dedicated to you, and what sort of mother would steal her own daughter's Afshin?"

 _The same sort of mother who would murder her own brother, perhaps?_ Nahri decided that as soon as she got a moment alone with Dara, she would tell him to find a way for them to leave. Never mind that she had no idea where to go, or even where they were right now - as far away from Manizheh and her plans as possible would suit Nahri just fine.

"Now, you can lie here as long as you want, or you can get up and see Dara," Manizheh said. "Your choice."

Put like that, it wasn't much of a choice.

Until she actually saw him, Nahri felt as if she might fall over at any moment. Pride and determination kept her going.

Then Dara was there, and she could tell that he _saw_ her, and she decided that pride and determination only went so far.

"Dara!" He'd caught her. _Of course he did._ Nahri would have laughed if she'd had the strength left. As it was, all she seemed able to do was cling to Dara like a drowning man to a log.

"My Nahid," Dara said. His body felt wonderfully warm. "Nahri." He kissed her forehead.

Nahri decided that wasn't quite the part of her body she wanted him to kiss, but she supposed that he might be holding back due to her having more or less collapsed into his arms.

"You can hear me? You can see me?" Stupid question: the answer was clearly yes. Still, Nahri didn't think that it would be a bad thing to remind Dara of the curse, and who had put said curse on him, seeing as how that was the very same person Nahri wanted to get away from as fast as possible.

"Manizheh explained everything," Dara said, which sounded ominous.

Nahri didn't quite know how you explained making someone unable to see or hear a person they very much wanted to see or hear, but if anyone could pull it off, her money'd be on Manizheh. Clearly, Nahri's intention had been foreseen.

"Nahri." Dara hesitated. "I know that you like the Qahtanis. I know that you don't feel this war your mother intends to fight has anything to do with you. But ... she needs your help. She can't do it alone, not if we are to have any hope of victory."

Nahri didn't like that 'we'. "I don't know what you're talking about. What war?" The moment she'd asked, she knew the answer. What other war could the last Nahid be wanting to win? What other war would Dara care about?

"Your mother has told me what Ghassan al Qahtani threatened to do to her, what he almost did to you." Dara's face turned grim. "The curse he put on me, before Nisreen risked her life to steal back my relic. You cannot tell me that you feel such a man deserves to rule Daevabad."

 _What makes you think Manizheh does?_ Nahri had no problem imagining Ghassan threatening her mother. She did have a problem imagining Manizheh actually being the least bit afraid.

"Can we maybe not talk about this right now?" Nahri asked.

Dara's arms tightened around her. "Of course. All of that can wait. I'm sorry. I forgot. You are greatly weakened. And here I am, not even having said 'thank you' for breaking the curse."

"You don't need to say it using words," Nahri said.

"I - " Dara licked his lips, looking nervous. "Nahri. You have to know - "

Nahri decided that whatever Dara thought she had to know, he was wrong. What she had to know right now was that she hadn't imagined the way he'd kissed her back, those long months ago - and that Dara hadn't forgotten.

_epilogue_

Manizheh sighed. Once upon a time, she too had known the fires of passion, the taste of the forbidden fruit. Her own Afshin was long dead, of course. One had to make sacrifices.

She had hoped that she might have been able to control Darayavahoush without the girl. The girl was a complication, a risk. A wild card.

Manizheh supposed that at least the role of mother was a new one. In another hundred years or so, it might well start to bore her, but for the moment, it presented her with a nice challenge and an easy way to claim the girl's loyalty - at least as long as the girl never found out about her father.

_Ah, Rustam. Not quite so boring after all, to keep secrets from your own sister. And then to curse the child to be able to pass as human - well. I suppose I underestimated you almost as much as you underestimated me._

**Author's Note:**

> Dara's classic 'I'm cursed not to talk to any people, so I will address this inanimate object instead' is, of course, lovingly stolen from Ancient Mesopotamian mythology.


End file.
